Slaney View Bacon Factory, &c. - Wexford Guide and Directory, 1885
About “Wexford County Guide and Directory,” 1885
George Henry Bassett produced 7 Irish county directories in the 1880s: Antrim, Armagh, Down, Kilkenny, Louth, Tipperary and Wexford. Each provides useful history of the respective counties as well as lists of office holders, farmers, traders, and other residents of the individual cities, towns and villages.
The directories are naturally an invaluable resource for those tracing family history. However, there are a few points to bear in mind.
- This online version of Bassett’s Wexford County Guide and Directory is designed primarily as a genealogical research tool and therefore the numerous advertisements in the original book, many full page, and quite a few illustrated, have been excluded.
- The text has been proofed with due care, but with large bodies of text typographical errors are inevitably bound to occur.
- Be aware that there were often inconsistencies in spelling surnames in the 19th century and also that many forenames are abbreviated in Bassett’s directories.
With respect to the last point, surnames which today begin with the “Mc” prefix, for example, were often formerly spelt as “M‘,”. For a list of some of the more common forename abbreviations used in the directory, see Forename Abbreviations.
NO more enterprising firm is to be found in the County Wexford than that of Messrs. Buttle Brothers. There is a great deal of American go-a-head in their methods, and it only requires a very short visit to the grocery and provision warehouse in Templeshannon to perceive that push, pluck, and energy are favourably regarded by the people of Enniscorthy and its district. The premises occupied by Messrs. Buttle Brothers cover nearly two acres. They face Templeshannon, and extend 300 feet to the brink of the Slaney, on the left bank of which they run for about 400 feet. Upon the bank, in view of the bridge, is the bacon factory. This is well planned, and has large slaughter and curing houses. At the time of my visit in August, 1884, Messrs. Buttle were contemplating the introduction of the ice curing system in its best form to prepare mild cured bacon for the London market. Hitherto their efforts have been occupied with the rapid development of the home trade in Irish and American provisions. The tastes of the people of Wexford and the adjoining counties have favoured the cure of bacon by heavy salting, and the Slaney View Factory has been worked upon that plan. A great deal of room is required for the accommodation of a business which is divided into so many important departments. The house in which the American bacon is stored covers a space of 120 feet long and 16 feet wide. The house used for American flour is three stories high. Some of its lofts extend into adjoining buildings, and are longer than others. They average about 75 feet, and are loaded nearly six feet high, with barely enough space for passage. A loft 51 by 16 feet is devoted exclusively to feeding stuffs. Messrs. Buttle Brothers have also a well equipped bakery, and a chandlery of considerable size. They are bottlers of Guinness’s stout and Allsopp’s ale for family use only, and the space taken up, even in this department, is greater than that entirely at the disposal of many a well-to-do village merchant. The transactions in the single item of tea, if measured by one delivery from London, via Wexford, at the time of my visit, 171 chests, must be very large. I saw an American contract, also a single transaction, confirming the purchase of 1,000 bags of the finest Minnesota patent flour, to be shipped direct from the mills. The books showed that the output of the establishment of Messrs. Buttle Brothers for the month of July had been figured at .£4,364 2s. 8d. in the wholesale department, £1,230 8s. iod. cash sales, and £429 13s. 4d. retail entries (pass-book accounts), making a total of £6,024 4s. iod. Messrs. Buttle Brothers (Samuel H. and John) began business at Enniscorthy. in 1869.
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